Kuwait Times

Published Date: November 15, 2009

RABAT: Dr Faisal Abdullah Al-Kandari, professor of history at Kuwait University (KU), suggested that his country and Morocco should make concerted efforts to scale up scientific research and enhance academic cooperation. Al-Kandari said the two sisterly countries have to build "a bilateral partnership," covering all domains including the cultural and historical ones.

He made the remarks on the sidelines of an international gathering titled "the Maghreb and the Western Mediterranean during the Ottoman Period." The gathering, being hosted by Rabat, is jointly organized by the Istanbul-based Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) and the Royal Institute for Research on the History of Morocco (IRRHM).

Exchanges between academicians and historians and promotion historical studies will help reveal many important facts relating to the old history of the two Arab nations," Al-Kandari underscored. During his stay here, the Kuwaiti scholar is scheduled to attend a number of lectures at King Mohammad VI University, Morocco's most prestigious educational institution, with a view to strengthening academic exchanges.

Despite the fact that the two countries enjoy close ties in many fields and share similar history and culture, the academic exchanges are still confined to personal initiatives," he regretted. "The ongoing conference provides an opportunity for scholars from both sides of the Mediterranean to explore the new ways to promote research on the history, present their findings and share experience.

This is an excellent chance to find out venues for coordination and collaboration between KU, on one hand," and the IRCICA and the IRRHM, on the other" Al-Kandari pointed out. "Both Kuwait and Morocco used to be parts of the Ottoman Empire (1516-1945), " he noted. "A lot of facts about the local history of the two countries and other Arab parts of the Ottoman Empire are missing because along with important chapters of the Ottoman archives while the archives of the British, French and German colonial power
s are available," he regretted.

The Ottoman archive constitutes a major historical reference for almost all nations of the Middle East and Mediterranean, Al-Kandari added, urging for convening more such gatherings in other Arab countries to provide platform for academic discussion on various historical aspects.

The three-day conference debates the relations between the Ottoman State and the Maghreb and Western Mediterranean region in regard to the effects of developments relating to the central state, the provinces, and the neighboring countries, reciprocally. The conferees also discuss economic, social, cultural and educational developments, as well as issues relating to historiography and the state of research on the history of the region during the Ottoman period. - KUNA